some of you will have seen this email before. i sent it out yesterday, about my being on TV this evening.

Tonight I was on TV.
Ok, rather, tonight I was at a taping for a debate for the Vancouver Olympic bid.
It was for the CBC news program, Canada Now.

 There was a six member panel of people ranging from Larry Campbell (Vancouver’s mayor) to the secretary of state for amateur sport in Canada.  Then there was an extended panel, also known as the audience.  It was peppered with pretty big names in local politics and even one Olympic bronze medalist (Georgina Wheatcroft, from the Canadian women’s curling team, bronze in salt lake).  Everyone in the audience who was not special in some was hand picked from hundreds of applications that they got online.  They were chosen because of the questions that they had wanted to ask of the panel were considered to be unique or representative.  In short they were chosen as the best people to be present at the issue debate. 

   Personally I still don’t know how I got in.  I guess I was just serious enough, just long enough for them to believe that I really care about the issue.  Oddly enough, I do care, I really do want the Olympics in Vancouver.  That doesn’t mean that I am necessarily going to remain serious but it did this time.

 So I got invited. I left work early today and trekked out to Richmond.  It didn’t take that long, just an hour and a couple of busses I have never ridden before.  They said to arrive before 5:45 because the show started taping at 6.  well, that wasn’t exactly how it went. We were seated by 6 but they didn’t start taping until 7.  but that was ok, it’s not as if I was seated between the original harridan of the no side who had come all the way from port mcneil.  On the other was this weird little elf of the yes side that hopped from people to people telling the most inane little stories. 

 The format was one run by the host guy. A guy named, um, ian, h…something or other.  Apparently he is famous.  he’s the guy here http://cbc.ca/canadanow.  There was another host called something in whistler with a smaller panel there.  Ian ran the discussion with the help of his producers.  Everyone in the audience had been given back the questions they had posed and their seats were numbered. When the debate approached something that fit with a question, the producer whispered it to the host and he would call on them.  Unfortunately mine was cross covered quite well by some of the points made by the panel and I never got called.  So I am not on tv speaking.

But I am sure I am on camera because the guy in front of me asked a question and the evil harridan beside me also got to ask hers.

It was very cool.  Very interesting and a lot of fun.

If you feel the urge to watch, knowing that you will only get to see my image….

It is on tomorrow night on Newsworld (cbc news channel) at 7 pm pacific time.  Since there is only one newsworld nation wide, it is on in your neck of the woods on newsworld at the correct time displacement.  Ie – 8 pm mountain, 10 pm eastern and etc.  it is 90 minutes long and I don’t know how well the program itself will come out.  I found it interesting but did not expect any person in the audience to even remotely change their mind from what was said.   It was kinda cool that all the yes people on the panel came across as calm, cool, rational people and the no guy came across as insano-freak-man.  Or passionate if you like.

There is no real reason for you to watch, of course.  I probably look horrible and was edited out.

But maybe I look horrible and was left in.
Lemmee know if you see it. I will be watching.

 

tonight i just finished watching it. they cut some of the good stuff. there was the NDP guy going off the deep end defending the auditor general and showing how the report indicated that the bid was horrible.  and the part where Nebbling talked about the nine thousand and one ways that rural BC was being involved and the part where BC doesn't have to kick its money for infrastructure in until 2007. 
   They also cut my solo number. The one where i rode on Larry Campbell's back in the middle of the stage while singing 'achy breaky heart' in my one's man Olympic tribute to that one man wonder, Billy Ray Cyrus. Who knew. 
   However my face was all over the place. you know people say to me, 'you're always smiling' and i always thought this a strange thing to say.  well people if you watched me on that program you know, you have NO doubt that this is just not true. apparently i do NOT smile when i am not talking to people.  Who knew.  about 1 hr 15 mins into the show there was a 3 second just me close up, i still don't know why. i looked so strange. do i really look like that?  huh.

   so on my way from the seabus up the hill to where i had to catch the bus i was going to take i had a small fear.  i had not seen my seabus stalker for quite a while.  i have either been coming in on time or when early, too early to see her.  well this day as i was lining up to leave the seabus i noticed that she was standing behind me in line. nothing big there. but then i leave the seabus and go to a corner and wait for the light.  very few people take this route away from the seabus.  all of a sudden i am struck by a thought, what if she takes the bus i am getting on? what if she wants to ride with me.  OH no! 
  but it's ok, she didn't turn left with me at the top of the hill. i was quaking though!

  side note. i have found a use for issac.  the other night after i came home late he was being rather whiny. not this is not a use. he's like that all the time.  but when i came in i went to the washroom.  as i often do when i go to the washroom, i flushed the toilet.  well about one time in 35 that i flush the handle sticks and eventually in about 10 minutes or so i hear the water running and go jiggle it.  well this time i didn't hear it right away. possibly because all of a sudden isaac's whines doubled in volume to become wails.  in fact, he was wailing from the general direction of the bathroom.
   i didn't think anything was up. after all he spends 92% of his life crying wolf.  but then i got up and went to check my email. the toilet was running. he hated it. he was informing me.

   so.  if it is ever the case that i am trapped in a well and there is running water, and isaac is around, well he will be able to go and annoy the hell out of the farmers.  i don't know how this would help, other than that i am all in favour of annoying farmers. but a use.  wonderful.